Syria Violence Leads U.N. Envoy to Push Back Date for Peace Talks

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The aftermath of an airstrike last week in a rebel-controlled neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria. Russian and Syrian government airstrikes have resumed with increasing intensity on the rebel-held eastern side of Aleppo.CreditCreditThaer Mohammed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Nick Cumming-Bruce

June 9, 2016

GENEVA — As artillery shells and airstrikes shook several Syrian towns and cities, a United Nations mediator said Thursday that although the time was not right for new talks between the warring parties, it was urgent that they resume by early August.

The United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters in Geneva that the next round of peace talks needed to produce concrete steps toward a political transition to end the war. He said Aug. 1 was the target date for resuming negotiations.

That date represents a step back from a deadline, set in March by the 17-nation International Syria Support group, for achieving agreement on a political transition in Syria by the start of August. But prospects for achieving even the amended goal looked uncertain, with the conflict moving back to all-out war on fronts in the north, east and south of Syria and around Damascus, the capital.

Russian and Syrian government airstrikes have resumed with increasing intensity on the rebel-held eastern side of Aleppo, producing dozens of casualties each day this week, according to residents, rescue workers and antigovernment activists.

Harrowing images are emerging of dead and wounded children in Aleppo and of people grieving over victims. Airstrikes in rebel-held areas Wednesday hit three hospitals, including a pediatric center supported by Unicef.

The director of the pediatric center, which is operated by the Independent Doctors Association, a nonprofit humanitarian group based in Gaziantep, Turkey, said in an email Thursday that the bombing had shattered windows and broken ceilings and doors, forcing the hospital to close until at least Saturday.

Mortar shells fired by rebels Wednesday and Thursday killed at least 20 people in government-held parts of Aleppo, according to the state-run news agency, SANA. One group of Islamist militants, the Nusra Front, has also been leading an offensive south of Aleppo and has retaken some of the territory that Syrian government forces seized with the help of Russian airstrikes.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, underscored the urgency of achieving at least “the beginnings” of a serious agreement by the start of August, telling reporters in New York on Thursday that “without a political horizon and discussions on the transition, a further escalation is all too likely.”

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Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, in March. He said Thursday that the next round of peace talks needed to produce concrete steps toward a political transition to end the war.CreditFabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mr. de Mistura said the Aug. 1 target “should be attainable,” but he cautioned that the next round of talks needed to be “a concrete one.” He said he would convene the meeting only if he saw that there were “some concrete intentions and critical mass for producing this time political transition steps.”

To prepare for the broader negotiations, he said, he will soon begin to hold informal technical talks that will dig into details of a political transition, like the future of Syria’s army and government institutions.

Mr. de Mistura emphasized, though, that the success of any peace talks required a reduction of violence and improved access for aid agencies delivering food and other supplies to hundreds of thousands of besieged civilians.

The United Nations reported on Thursday that the Syrian government had approved its requests for access to 15 of the 19 communities under siege or cut off by fighting.

But “there are a lot of actions that need to take place between approval and delivery,” Mr. de Mistura said, alluding to the obstruction of aid convoys at roadblocks and the removal of medicine and other supplies from the trucks.

Late Thursday, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said a food convoy had reached Daraya, Agence France-Presse reported, providing a hint of progress. Last week, the government approved the delivery of aid to Daraya for the first time in four years, but it denied the delivery of food, the most urgently needed commodity.

Earlier, Mr. de Mistura cited concerns among members of the international support group that the Syrian government’s approvals for aid deliveries were accompanied by “punishment” in the form of military attacks on communities receiving the aid.

The arrival of food aid in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, came only hours after a bombardment of the town, including strikes on a mosque. Damascus residents said 10 to 15 large explosions had been heard overnight from the direction of Daraya as helicopters dropped bombs on the town.

On a more positive note, Mr. de Mistura said he had heard from Russia that the Syrian government might have released “a substantial number” of prisoners. He speculated that the government might have intended to make a good-will gesture coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan or was simply addressing “what is a huge concern and huge problem.” But he said he was still waiting for confirmation that any prisoners had been freed.

Anne Barnard and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, and an employee of The New York Times from Damascus, Syria.